Emergency brake



Feb. 23 192%,

' W. L. SUCHA EMERGENCY 'BRAKE Filed Jan. l19, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 num Hoz "VY, Lmn (l,

ffnung Feb. 23 ,1926.

' W. L.5UCHA EMERGENCY BRAKE Filed Jan. 19, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Fels. 23, i925.

'WILLIAT'I LOUIS SUOI-IA,

or' OMAHA., NEBRASKA.

EMERGENCY BRAKE.

Application filed January To all eli/0m fit .may concern Be it knownthat I, lTvTILLL-ur L. SUCHA, a citizen of the United States, residingat Gmaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented.certain new and useful Improvements in Emergencyv Brakes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to an emergency brake for motorV vehicles, streetcars or other carriers, and has for its object, broadly, to provide abrake for engaging a track and the wheels moving thereon for causing astop-movement of the car by frictional engagement of the brakes with thetrack, the construction to be operative for lifting the car by itsmomentum, and supporting a part of its-weight upon the brakes, thedevice being particularly of advantage upon electric cars when movingdownwardly upon inclines and depending upon the trolley and` upon airbrakes for a stop movement.

The invention consists of the novel and useful construction, combinationand arrangement of parts as described herein and claimed, and asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood thatchanges may be made in form, size, proportions and minor details, saidchanges being within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a broken away side view of a car partly insection, showing the brake in its normal, elevated position. Fig 2 is anend view of the car showing parts thereof in section, the brake beingsupported in its elevated position. F ig. 3 is a detail showing thepivotal mounting of a control-rod upon a part of the frame for thebrakes. Fig. 4 is a side view of a brake-shoe. lt'ig. 5 is a detailshowing a rigid connection for the upper and lower link of a frame. Fig. 6 is a transverse 'section through a brake-shoe on line 6*@ of Fig.li. Fig. 7 is a 'sectional View on line 7-7 of Fig. Ll. Fig. 8 is a viewpartly in section showing an end portion of the car, the brake being inoperative position in engagement of the wheels and track.

Referring now to the drawing for a more particular description, theinvention is shown and described in connection with a partof a car 9,designated elsewhere and claimed as acarrier, the wheels 10 therefor anda track 11 designated elsewhere and claimed as a support, a partitionfor the car Serial No. 3,326.

or carrier being indicated at 12, and a floor therefor being indicatedat 13.

The emergency brake consists of concaveconv-eX wedge-members or shoes1111, used in pairs and normally disposed above the track forwardly ofand adjacent to the wheels, said slices being secured to the ends of a.frame 15, and the frame being supported in such a manner that it may bemoved downwardly to permit the shoes to be interposed between thesupport or track and the wheels to therebyv causo the shoes to hepressed frictionally against thc support or track to stop the movementof the car, a F

control-bar 16 being employed for supporting the frame and shoes.

Each shoe preferably has a concave snrface a for engaging' the wheel,and a recess Z) for receiving the usual l ner side of a wheel 10, and isprovided with a convexed surface /Z having a rectilinear part 1f forengaging the top of the ball of a rail, and a flange c for engaging' theinner' side of the ball of said rail. Any suitable frame may be providedfor connecting the shoes, and l have shown an upper horizontal link 17having a pivotal connection with the control bar and a lower link 15disposed parallel with the link 1T, said links being secured, at theirends, to the slices 11i, and being rigidly connected by cross-plates orbars 19.

Numeral 20 indicates a box or guidemember for the control rod 16 andadapted to contain a spring 21, and at is indicated a latch adapted toengage a catch or cap 253 which is provided for the rod 1li, said latchpreferably being formed as a rock-lever, and having a pivotal mounting2l upon the partition 12.

It will be seen, according to the description, that a rocking movementof the frame 19 will cause corresponding movements of the shoes l-l, theframe being under control of the rod 16. The frame 19 is normallypressed downwardly by the operation of the spring 2l, aided by gravity,said spring being compress-ed between the collar .n of the rod and topof the box 20; and in operationl if a ear is moving forwardly, the rodmay be released from the lever or latch by manually causing a swingingmovement of the latter, the result being that the downward movement ofthe shoes and frame will dispose the low-er ends of the shoes inengagement with the balls of the track rails,

nange o at the inlll5 ttl

said shoes being immediately engaged by the wheels, said wheels movinginto the slices and being supported thereby as clearlyY shown in Fig. 8ot the drawings.

.Since the surfaces a. and d are non-concentric, one end el' the carwill be elevated from the track, and the shoes when thus interposedwill, by weight of the car, be piessed against the track rails, and onaccount ot the action ot i'riction'of the slices moving upon the rails,the car will presently cease its forward movement. Each shoe has a datsurface t for engaging a rail and operating to relieve stresses on therod 16.

lt will be noted that the slices will not Y become disengaged from therails while supporting theweight ot the car for the reason that theirflanges e are disposed at the inner sides of the rails; also the wheelswill not become disengaged from the slices since their flanges c engagein recesses CZ at the inner sides of the slices.

Also the mounting ol the control rod 1G which traverses suitableapertures f and g provided, respectively, for the top ot the guidemember or box and in the floor 13 will prevent any movement ot the frametransversely of the car, and therefore the shoes will be maintained withtheir llanges e disposed inwardly oithe balls ot' the track rails, andat any time when the control rod is released, engagement ot the conveXedsurfaces d of the shoes with the balls of the track rails will bepractical and certain.

lt is well known that accidents occur to electrically operated cars whenmoving downwardly upon inclines. The trolley may become disengaged fromthe trolley wire at a time when the air brakes are inoperative, and insuoli instances the herein described emergency brake may be used toadvantage. The device as described consists olf few and simple parts,may be operated conveniently, may be practically and economicallymanufactured, and may be applied to a car to occupy a very limitedspace.

It is considered that the springs 2lv may be dispensed with it desiredfor the reason that the trame l5 and shoes let will more downwardly byaction of gravity. Vhile a street car and track rails have been shown inthe drawings the herein described. brake may be applied to vehicles andcarriers generally, and when used upon any vehicle of ordinaryconstruction, it the shoes are moved downwardly into engagement with theground or similar support, it is obvious that such yoperation wouldcause the shoes to be disposed below the wheels and to be pressed intothe ground or against said support, and on account ot this frictionalengagement caused by a forward movement of the vehicle, carrier, or carsaid forward movement would terminate. A

In the use oi' the device upon electrically operated cars, it is obviousthat the wheels may be readily removed from the slices by causing arearward movement of the car after the trolley has been adjusted and isagain in engagement with the trolley wire.

l claim as my inventiom- Y y In an emergency brake for a carrierincluding a supportv and having wheels for engaging track rails, a pairof slioes'each being provided with a convened wall having a rectilinearpartl and a concaved wall nonconcentric with said conveXed wall, ahorizontal link rigidly connected with said shoes, an uprightcontrol-bar traversing said support and pivotally connected with saidlink and being movable to permit the rectilinear parts of the slices toengage the track rails, a latch normally engaging the control bar formaintaining the shoes in disengaged relation with the -wheels and trackrails, and resilient means on the control bar tending to move said barand link for moving the shoes into engagement with ithe track rails,said control-'bar having a projection for engag ing said support whenthe bar is disengaged from the latch and while the rectilinear parts ofthe shoes engage the track rails.-

in testimony whereof, l have afliXed my signature.

WILLIAM LOUIS SUCHA.

